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3.1.2 The Volume Browser Menu Bar

• File: The File pull-down menu, shown in Exhibit 3.1.2-1, contains the following options:

- Exit: This option closes the Volume Browser Dialog Box. Any product selections you may have made in the Volume Browser before exiting remain when you re-open the Volume Browser.

- Clone: This option duplicates the Product Selection List's highlighted products into a separate dialog box.

- Close Browser Tear-aways: You can close all menus that were torn away from the Volume Browser with this option.

• Edit: The Edit pull-down menu, shown in Exhibit 3.1.2-2, contains the following options:

- Clear all: Removes all list entries you have made in the Volume Browser.

- Clear sources: Removes any model sources from the Sources List.

- Clear fields: Removes any model fields from the Fields List.

- Clear planes: Removes any model planes from the Planes List.

- Select none: Deselects and empties all of the products in your Product Selection List but leaves the selections you made in the Source, Fields, and Planes Menus.

- Select all: Generates a Product Selection List of all possible products based on the selections made in the Source, Fields, and Planes Menus.

• Tools: Under this pull-down menu, you can access the Interactive Baselines and Points Tools. Refer to Exhibit 3.1.2-3.

- Baselines: Baselines are editable lines that determine the cross-section coordinates of the gridded model data. These baselines are the same as those mentioned in "The Menu Bar" in Chapter 2 and are available in the Volume Browser for user convenience.

- Points: Points are editable locator dots that are used to generate model soundings, time/height sections, and time series from gridded model data. These points are the same as those mentioned in "The Menu Bar" in Chapter 2 and are available in the Volume Browser for user convenience.

Note: There is no label for this options menu. The label you see is the setting you have selected from this menu. When you choose a Setting, additional option menus, specific to that setting, appear to the right on the Volume Browser Menu Bar. Notice also that the Fields and Planes pull-down menus change with each setting. This is further discussed in the following sections.

- Plan View: Plan View is the default option for the Volume Browser. From the plan-view perspective, data are plotted onto horizontal surfaces. The Plan-View Planes are discussed in the planes section that follows. The additional options menu that appears in the Volume Browser Menu Bar allows you to choose whether you want the Plan-View data to animate in time or space. Exhibit 3.1.2-5 shows the Volume Browser menus as they appear when the Plan-View setting is chosen.

Exhibit 3.1.2-5. The Volume Browser - Plan View Menu State

• Animate in Time: Animate in Time is the default option for the Volume Browser. It allows you to view model data through time.

• Animate in Space: For the Plan View Setting, Animate in Space allows you to loop through a series of vertical levels of model data at a fixed time.

- Cross section: Cross section allows you to view gridded data as vertical slices along specific baselines. You need to use either the Interactive Baseline Tool or the predefined latitude/longitude baselines to specify the slice you wish to see. One of the additional options menus that appear in the Volume Browser Menu Bar, as shown in Exhibit 3.1.2-6, allows you to choose whether you want the cross-section data to animate in time or space, while the other options menu allows you to adjust the vertical representation. Descriptions of these options follows. Notice also that the Fields and Planes submenu labels have changed after selecting "Cross section."

Exhibit 3.1.2-6. The Volume Browser - Cross Section Menu State

• Animate in Time: Animate in Time is the default option for the Volume Browser. It allows you to view model data through time.

• Animate in Space: Animate in Space allows you to loop through a series of predefined latitude or longitude cross-sectional slices at a fixed time.

• Vertical Resolution: This option menu contains a number of selections for changing the vertical representation of cross-sectional data. You can select either a logarithmic or linear pressure scale as the vertical coordinate, or choose from five different ranges of pressure values.

- Var vs Hgt: The Var vs Hgt Option allows you to view a profile of a meteorological model field as it changes through height, which is displayed in millibars. By using the Interactive Points Tool, you can select one or more locations from which to plot the data.

• Vertical Resolution: This option menu, shown in Exhibit 3.1.2-7, contains a number of selections for changing the vertical representation of cross-sectional data. You can select either a logarithmic or linear pressure scale as the vertical coordinate, or choose from five different ranges of pressure values.

• Dynamic Zooming: For Var vs Height plots, you can zoom in on either the x- or y-axes to obtain better resolution.

- Time-Height: The Time-Height option, which works in conjunction with the Interactive Points Tool, allows you to view a time-height cross section of a full run of gridded model data for a specific location. Additional options menus in the Volume Browser Menu Bar allow you to choose the direction in which you want the data to be plotted, and to adjust the vertical resolution, as shown in Exhibit 3.1.2-8.

Exhibit 3.1.2-8. The Volume Browser - Time-Height Menu State

• <left: This option is used when generating a time-height cross section. Data are plotted with the latest data on the left and the earliest data on the right.

• >right: This option is used when generating a time-height cross section. Data are plotted with the latest data on the right and the earliest data on the left.

• Vertical Resolution: This option menu contains a number of selections for changing the vertical representation of the Time-Height Cross Section data. You can select either a logarithmic or linear pressure scale as the vertical coordinate, or choose from five different ranges of pressure values.

- Sounding: This option works in conjunction with the Interactive Points Tool and allows you to generate a Skew-T chart for a specific location. As shown in Exhibit 3.1.2-9, no additional options menus appear in the Volume Browser Menu Bar for Soundings.

Exhibit 3.1.2-9. The Volume Browser - Sounding Menu State

- Time Series: The Time Series Option, Exhibit 3.1.2-10, is used in conjunction with the Interactive Points Tool and allows you to plot gridded data on a time versus data value graph for a specified point.

Exhibit 3.1.2-10. The Volume Browser - Time Series Menu State

• Point Labels: This option menu contains 10 (A-J) Interactive Point labels that are used to determine the geographic location of Time Series plots.

• Dynamic Zooming: For Time Series plots, you can zoom in on either the x or y axes to obtain better resolution.

Refer to Module 11, Objective 12 for a detailed example of how to generate a time series plot from model data.

- Help: This pull-down menu, shown in Exhibit 3.1.2-11, provides on-line assistance and information about the Volume Browser.

Exhibit 3.1.2-11. The Volume Browser Menu Bar - Help Pull-Down Menu

• On Volume Browser: On Volume Browser connects you, via Netscape, to the Volume Browser section of the online AWIPS User's Manual.

• Contents: Contents connects you, via Netscape, to the Table of Contents of the AWIPS D2D On-Line User's Guide.

• About: Provides the date of the Volume Browser software.

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